Bath
Bath names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Bath a city of England
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a city of England. It is picturesquely situated in Somersetshire on the Avon, about due west from London and not over twenty miles from Bristol. There are famous saline and chalybeate hot springs . During the Roman occupancy of the island, the springs were known from their high temperature as Aquae Solis, waters of the sun. The Romans erected magnificent baths here. Five halls yet remain. The largest is 68 by 110 feet. They were heated by a system of flues beneath the floor. One of the tanks is lined with lead. The Roman watering place was destroyed by the Saxons. The Bath was rebuilt during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Under the leadership of Beau Nash it became the most fashionable watering place in England. Bath is now a modern city of 50,000 people. There is a fine abbey church in the "perpendicular" style of architecture. Large windows of rich tracery are set so close together that the edifice is called the "Lantern of England." Bath does not maintain its former reputation for fashion, but it is still the resort of invalids. The principal springs, four in number, supply over 7,000 gallons of water an hour. The temperature of the water is from 108 deg. to 117 deg. F.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of England, in Somersetshire, on the Avon, which is navigable for barges from Bristol; is beautifully placed among the hills, and the houses are built of freestone, obtained from the neighborhood. The Abbey Church ranks as one of the finest specimens of perpendicular Gothic architecture. Bath is remarkable for its medicinal waters, the four principal springs yielding no less than 184,000 gallons of water a day. Bath was founded by the Romans, and called by them Aquæ Solis (waters of the sun). Among the Roman remains discovered here have been some fine baths. The height of its prosperity was reached, however, in the 18th century, when Beau Nash was leader of the fashion and master of its ceremonies. Jointly with Wells it is the head of a diocese, and returns two members to the House of Commons. Pop. of municipal borough (1917) 58,799.
Bath a name applied to the washing of the body or to facilities for doing so
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a name applied to the washing of the body or to facilities for doing so. Among primitive peoples, no arrangement is made for bathing, not even for washing the face, except as the native may plunge into natural bodies of water. The South Sea Islanders are said to be fond of bathing in the surf. Their children take to the water like young seals. As civilization advances, especially in warm countries, the bath has been recognized as a necessary part of household arrangements. Public baths were constructed by the Greeks and Romans on a magnificent scale. Maecenas, Agrippa, Agricola, Diocletian, and Titus provided Rome with bath houses, the remains of which still arouse admiration. Water for the Roman bath house was brought from the Apennines through aqueducts. In some of these baths 2,000 to 3,000 persons could bathe at one time. Wherever the Roman arms extended, in Africa, in the East, throughout western Europe, and even in England, extensive baths were built. The famous watering places of Europe were first made known by bath houses built during the period of Roman occupancy. On the principle that "cleanliness is next to godliness," modern cities are beginning to pay attention to public baths. Liverpool, London, Pittsburg, Newark, Boston, and other cities deserve mention. The cold, the tepid, and the warm bath are so named from the temperature of the water used. The cold bath should be used in the morning, as otherwise the bather is apt to catch cold. The most celebrated bath is the Turkish bath, although the Turks were not the first, by any means, to use it. A genuine Turkish bath requires the use of at least three rooms. The first should have a temperature ranging from 115 deg. to 120 deg., the second from 120 deg. to 140 deg., with a third ranging from 150 deg. to 175 deg., or even as high as 200 deg. The bather stays from five to fifteen minutes in the hottest room, then for an equal length of time in the next, and cools off in the third room while an attendant rubs his skin and works his muscles. The loss of weight from perspiration is quite noticeable. The Russian bath is a vapor bath. This may be taken by wrapping the body in a heavy blanket and sitting in a chair over boiling hot water, the temperature of which may be maintained by the immersion of red hot bricks. See Sulphur Springs
Bath city, port of entry
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
city, port of entry, and countyseat of Sagadahoc co., Me., on the Kennebec river, and the Maine Central railroad; 12 miles from the ocean and 35 miles S. of Augusta. It is admirably situated as a commercial port; has regular steamboat connections with Boston and Augusta; is principally engaged in shipbuilding, both wood and iron; and has manufactories of brass and iron goods, oil cloth, shoes, and lumber. Bath has a large coastwise and foreign trade in ice, coal, lumber, hay, iron, and steel; and contains several National banks, public library, etc. Pop. (1910) 9,396; (1920) 14,731.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts translate the Roman name as "Aquae Solis, waters of the sun"; scholars now read it as Aquae Sulis, after Sulis, the Celtic goddess of the spring whom the Romans merged with Minerva. Bath has grown from the 58,799 of Collier's 1917 count to roughly 94,000, was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and its Georgian terraces, not its cures, now draw the crowds; the Roman Great Bath is a museum, closed to bathers after contaminated water was linked to a fatal infection in 1978, though a modern spa reopened access to the hot springs in the 2000s. Aiton's 1910 advice that "the cold bath should be used in the morning, as otherwise the bather is apt to catch cold" belongs to a world before domestic plumbing made daily washing ordinary rather than a civic amenity. Bath, Maine, still smaller than 10,000 people, remains a shipbuilding town: Bath Iron Works, founded in 1884, builds destroyers for the U.S. Navy to this day.
Written for this edition, 2026.